Outraged Philadelphia mayor calls for investigation into 'disgusting' magazine article about race relations in the city titled Being White in Philly

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 02:32 EDT, 17 March 2013 | Updated: 02:32 EDT, 17 March 2013

The mayor of Philadelphia has called for an investigation into a controversial article recently published in a local magazine titled 'Being White in Philly.'

The story that appeared in Philadelphia Magazine this month features a series of interviews with unnamed white residents living in different parts of Philadelphia who talk about their dealings with African-Americans.

Calling the article's tone 'disgusting,' Mayor Michael Nutter has asked the Human Relations Commission to look into some of the race-related concerns raised by the article.

Controversial: Philadelphia Magazine has been accused of race-baiting after publishing an article titled 'Being White in Philly' featuring interviews with unnamed Caucasian residents who talk about their interactions with African-Americans

'I think he feels that there are enough problems in this article that it warrants a closer look,' Nutter spokesman Mark McDonald told CBS Philadelphia.

The commission responded to the mayor s request by saying that it already has been looking at relations between different groups living in the city.

In a statement, Philadelphia Magazine editor Tom McGrath said the mayor, like any reader, is entitled to think and say anything he wants about the article and that the need to have a deeper discussion about race in Philadelphia is exactly why they ran the story in the first place.

However, McGrath goes on to state that Nutter's 'sophomoric' statements about the publication lead him to believe that the mayor is more interested in scoring 'political points than having a serious conversation about the issues.'

'In short, the mayor loves the First Amendment–as long as he and the government can control what gets said,' McGrath said in his statement.

The Philadelphia Magazine article, written in the first person by reporter Robert Huber, begins with him expressing concerns for the safety of his younger son, who attends Temple University and rents an apartment with two roommates in a 'bad' part of town near the school.

Official response: Mayor of Philadelphia Michael Nutter called the tone of the article 'disgusting' and asked the Human Relations Commission to look into some of the race-related concerns

Huber goes on to write that white Philadelphians don’t merely avoid the poor, predominantly African-American neighborhoods, but 'do their best to erase them' from their thoughts due to the feelings of unease over questions of race.

Much of the story consists of vignettes gathered by the author from his interviews with white residents about misunderstandings  and confrontations with their black neighbors, like the 26-year-old high school teacher who was accused of being racist for calling an unruly African-American student 'boy' in the heat of an argument.

Spoof: Philadelphia Weekly poked fun at the article by coming out with a parody about how attractive people in the city are afraid to talk about their beauty

A Caucasian student from Villanova University told Huber she had faced a similar situation when she sent a Facebook message to her entire class asking if anyone had picked up her lost BlackBerry, only to be scolded by the sole black girl in her lab class who perceived her message to be directed at her.

In one interview with a Russian 'beauty' whom Hubert met in the Fairmount section of town, the woman he dubbed 'Anna' told him that 'blacks use skin color as an excuse,' and rather than work and pay taxes, 'they are sitting on porches smoking pot' and 'just make babies.'

An 87-year-old man named 'John' recalled an encounter with a young boy who came into his house saying: 'It was a n***** boy, a big tall kid. He wanted money.'

The tone of the piece, which explores the idea that white people are afraid to speak out about their concerns over race relations for fear of being labelled intolerant, has set off a firestorm in the media, with many in the African-American community accusing the author of the piece and the magazine of race-baiting.

'My first instinct upon reading “White in Philly” was to slam my head against my desk. My second was to fire off a takedown explaining why it was racist and terrible,' journalist Jamilah Lemieux wrote in a reaction piece published by Ebony. 

Speaking to an MSNBC's The Grio on Monday, Philadelphia Magazine editor Tom McGrath conceded that much of the criticism of the piece is 'fair.'  

‘This [story] certainly had some flaws in it,’ McGrath said. ‘We by no means were trying to do a definitive take on race relations in Philadelphia. We set out to do this from one particular point of view.’